August 25, 2006, Friday

IT takes a four-wheel drive to climb the steep, snowy hill to Jim Bouton's house here in the Berkshires. Mr. Bouton, the one-time Yankee pitcher known for his 1970 best seller, ''Ball Four,'' has thrown a curve: he wants to talk architecture. Over...

August 29, 2002, Thursday

As the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians has intensified, I've found it increasingly impossible to watch TV news. Lately, whenever Middle East stories come on CNN or MSNBC, I reach for the remote and switch to the Golf Channel. Everyone...

April 21, 2002, Sunday

THERE are places where baseball games last just two and a half hours, where batters spend most of their time at home plate trying to hit the ball rather than fidgeting with their equipment. There are also places where the fans of every team...

Two of the keenest observers of sport in my time have produced gift-sized books for the holidays, leading my list of ways you should spend money to support writers. The original ''Ball Four'' was published 30 years ago, and at the time I thought...